Sign from above: Two restaurants, one landlord and a deal made in heaven
The Blueberry Cafe in Douglas (photo via Yelp)
Blueberry Cafe looks a lot different today than it did a few months ago.
Blueberry Cafe owner Alexandra Boneo (right)
The cute eatery, in the small border town in southeast Arizona called Douglas, has a new location. There’s more room, enough for owner Alexandra Boneo to pursue her catering aspirations while sharing space with local entrepreneurs who need a kitchen to prep in or get their ventures off the ground.
And the ceiling doesn’t leak.
Blueberry Cafe’s fresh start needed a bit of serendipity, uncanny timing and local support to make it happen. Quite literally, when one door closed, another opened.
Stephanie Bermudez, founder and CEO of Startup Unidos, watched it all come together. Even after months have passed, she is still in awe of how Bluberry Cafe’s new position in town came to fruition.
“It’s so awesome,” Bermudez said of the backstory. “The tree is really giving fruit.”
Challenges pile up for two restaurant owners
As a small business organization offering culturally-anchored services to borderland communities, Startup Unidos belongs to a statewide coalition of organizations known as AZNavigator, which offers free assistance to business owners. Local First Arizona is also part of that coalition.
Stephanie Bermudez, founder and CEO of Startup Unidos
Bermudez spends her days, and sometimes nights, working with entrepreneurs to help them navigate the unique challenges they are facing — from financing to workforce development to getting off the ground. She had been working with Boneo on the possibility of scaling her business and finding a new location for a variety of reasons.
Boneo was dealing with an unpredictable landlord relationship after ownership of the building she was in had changed hands, and she was trying to manage the need for new equipment in order to be in compliance with the health department. Stressors were piling up.
“She wanted to do more, but she couldn’t do it in that space,” Bermudez said, noting that Boneo had been given an opportunity to work with the school district in a partnership that would provide students with healthy meals.
At the same time, just a short distance away, Mary Oluwaseun was finding herself overwhelmed as owner of La Frenzy Steak & Grill. Oluwaseun had invested her savings into the business and was in need of a way to manage the debt she had accrued, knowing her business would need to close.
“She was done. She was really stressed, and it was a crisis,” Bermudez said. “I started stitching their stories together to see how I could help them.”
Photos of Blueberry Cafe via Yelp
A deal made in heaven
In an unconventional intervention, Bermudez worked with Oluwaseun’s landlord to propose a negotiation that might benefit both businesses. Happily, it worked.
The landlord agreed to purchase kitchen equipment from Oluwaseun, release her from the lease and welcome Boneo to the location — which would be bigger, more reliable and bring her into compliance with the health department.
“I think the landlord was the angel here, honestly,” Bermudez said. “I can facilitate, but the power move was him and his wife stepping in. I really feel they deserve credit for stepping in. They resolved Mary’s debt. They basically saved her.”
An unexpected flood gives a sign
Before the deal was finalized, Boneo had been looking for a sign that the move was the right thing for her. She had half-heartedly wished for an unlikely catastrophe, like a rainstorm inside the cafe.
A couple days later, it actually happened.
Blueberry Cafe food photos via Yelp
Thanks to a faulty roof repair by the property owner, Blueberry Cafe was flooded.
Floating on top of the water, Boneo found the business plan she had developed with Bermudez and quickly rescued it. That was all the confirmation she needed to make the move.
Now Boneo’s restaurant includes murals from local artists and space she can rent out to other food businesses as an added revenue stream.
La Frenzy’s doors closing opened up the opportunity for “exactly what could help rescue Blueberry Cafe,” Bermudez said.
Visit the Blueberry Cafe at 1113 G Ave. in Douglas.
Are you a business owner with a challenge to solve? Find a local organization to help you at localfirstaz.com/aznavigator.
